Spacers for cage presses



March 31, 1964 Q UPTON SPACERS FOR CAGE PRESSES Filed Feb. 12, 1962 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,126,820 SPACERS FOR CAGE PRESSES Charles B. Upton, Piqua, Ohio, assignor to The French Oil Mill Machinery Company, Piqua, Ohio Filed Feb. 12, 1962, Ser. No. 172,631 1 Claim. (Cl. 100-129) This invention relates to improvements in spacers of the kind used between cage bars of presses for expressing oils or other liquids from materials containing the same.

In continuous or screw presses as heretofore employed, an axial screw or worm rotates in a cage or cylinder for pressing the liquid containing material so that liquid is pressed out of the same and passes through narrow spaces between the bars of the press cage. This cage is ordinarily composed of separate bars of rectangular cross section extending length wise of the cage and spaced apart to form between them narrow, outwardly diverging drainage slits through which the expressed liquid passes.

Heretofore spacing devices have been employed between adjacent bars to hold the bars at correct distances from each other to form spaces of the desired width between adjacent bars, and because of heavy pressures employed on the material which is being treated, the spacers must be strong and rigid to be able to withstand these heavy pressures. Furthermore, some of the liquids which are pressed out of the material are corrosive, probably due to their fatty acid content, and this corrosion of the spacing means alters the spaces between adjacent press bars. Some of the materials treated in these presses also have a dissolving action, as is the case with certain types of oil bearing seeds and nuts. The spacers heretofore commonly employed were made, at least in part, of zinc, and this type of spacer is attacked and consequently reduced in size by the dissolving action of the expressed liquid.

Furthermore, these spacers are subjected to heavy compression loads which develop in tightening up the cage by urging the press bars inwardly toward each other. The friction developed by the material passing through the press also develops a compression load on the drainage bars and spacers and causes spacers heretofore employed to change shape and thus reduce their effectiveness in properly locating the drainage bars relatively to each other.

Any distortion of spacers will cause the bars to nest or redistribute themselves, in which event the distance between some bars will be entirely closed and in others wider open, as the compression changes the shape of the prior art spacers at both ends, and at the thick end, which is on the outside edge of the assembled bars in the cage, the compression or change in shape of the spacers, getting thinner, pushes the bars closer together on the outside edge and farther apart on the inside, and permits fines or foots, oil and meats in the cage of the press to squeeze out in large quantities from this cause, lowering the pressure exterted on the product in the case.

It is consequently an object of this invention to provide spacers for use in cage presses which are of unitary structure and made of rigid material with high resistance to changing shape under compression, and which are immune to attack by liquids expressed from the material which is being treated in the press.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a screw press having a cage with bars spaced by spacing devices embodying this invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse, sectional elevation thereof on line 2-2, FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, enlarged, transverse section thereof on a larger scale, showing several of the cage bars and intervening spacers.

0 "ice FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation thereof on line 44, FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the spacers removed from the press.

The drawing illustrates a screw press having a cage 6 of cylindrical form in which a worm 7 mounted on a worm shaft 8 rotates. One end of the case is provided with means for feeding material to be acted upon into the cage 6 and the other end of the cage is provided with the usual extrusion opening through which the material, after having been compressed, is discharged. The area of the extrusion openings is controlled by an adjustable cone 9. Since these cage presses are of old and well known construction, it is not deemed necessary herein to illustrate the complete press.

The cage of the press is provided with separable, longitudinally divided sections each having substantially semicircular, transverse ribs 10 arranged at intervals lengthwise of the press and joined at their opposite ends by longitudinal side members 11 at diametrically opposite sides of the cage. The circumferential drainage wall of the press is formed by separate, longitudinal cage bars 13 bearing against the inner edges of the ribs 10. The cage bars are arranged between fixed, longitudinal abutment bars 14, and an adjustable key or clamp bar 15 is provided on each cage section between two abutment bars 16. The key bars may be of wedge shape in cross section and cooperate with the abutment bars 16 having inclined faces. The key bars can be adjusted for pressing the cage bars toward each other between the key bars 15 and the opposing abutment bars 14 in any suitable way, as for example, by means of screws 17 passing up through holes in the ribs to enable the screws to draw the key bars outwardly and in cooperation with the bars 16 to crowd the cage bars toward each other between each key bar and a cooperating adjustment bar.

18 represents the spacers which are arranged between adjacent cage bars 13. These spacers are of unitary structure and of tapering form with their opposite, flat faces coverging toward the center of the press. The spacers are of such shape that when arranged between the cage bars 13 of rectangular cross section, they will space the outer edges of the cage bars apart so that when pressed together they will form the cylindrical shape of the press cage. The inner edges of the spacers extend into close proximity to the inner surfaces of the cage bars so as to space the inner edges of the cage bars apart to the desired extent to form narrow slits between the cage bars to permit the passage of liquid through the same and to exclude most of the expressed material from passing through the slits between cage bars. These spacers may be made of different thicknesses, depending upon the clearance or widths of slits desired between adjacent cage bars.

It is desirable to provide means for locating the spacers in correct relation to the cage bars, and for this purpose I provide each spacer with a projecting stub or locator 20 arranged on a fiat face of the spacer, to fit in a drilled hole in a cage bar. These stubs or projectors are preferably integral with the spacers and consequently may be formed by stamping or punching the spacers from a side thereof in such a manner that a portion of the metal of the spacer is forced outwardly from one of the faces of the spacer to extend beyond the opposite face thereof. The cage bars are provided with holes 22 accurately located on the cage bars so that the spacers will be accurately located on the press, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, by having the stubs or projections extending into the holes. It is of course also possible to drill holes through alternate cage bars so that two spacers are arranged on opposite sides of the cage bars with their stubs extending into opposite ends of the holes.

The projections or locators and the holes 22 are 10- cated in such relation to the cage bars as to locate the spacers in correct relation to the cage bars to space these bars from each other to the desired extent. In addition to thus locating the spacers in correct relation to the cage bars, correct assembly of the press cage is greatly facilitated.

The spacers are preferably made of steel, and stainless steel is preferred because of its high resistance to corrosion or dissolving. Either common steel or stainless steel has a very high resistance to compression so that the deformation of the spacers, due to the pressures exerted on the same by the cage bars is practically eliminated. Stainless steel is preferable for the further reason that it has a high resistance to electrolysis when exposed to various liquids which may pass between the cage bars of the press. Also by making the stubs or projections integral with the spacers a very rugged construction results, since the stubs have a high resistance against breaking from the spacers, and can be easily formed integral with the spacers by stamping or punching as described, thus resulting in saving of expense in making the same. These stubs can also be easily located with accuracy on the spacers so that correct assembly of the press cage is assured.

Spacers may be made of diiferent thicknesses and the desired face angles may vary, depending on the thickness of drainage bars, to give a range of Width of slots between bars.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a continuous screw press having circumferentially arranged cage bars each having an opening extending into one side thereof, the provision of spacer bars each adapted to be positioned between a pair of cage bars, said spacer bars each comprising a wedge-shaped body having flat converging faces and a laterally projecting stub extending from one of said faces a distance from said wedgeshaped body approximately equal to the width of said body at its juncture therewith and freely receivable in an adjacent opening in the cage bar when said bars are arranged to form a cylindrical cage. 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 829,315 Anderson Aug. 21, 1906 1,321,351 Anderson Nov. 11, 1919 2,118,992 Upton May 31, 1938 2,255,750 Whorton Sept. 16, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 26,848 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1905 

